Court agrees to cancel Monday hearing in Netanyahu’s graft trial so he can visit US

The Jerusalem District Court agrees to cancel Monday’s scheduled hearing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial due to his upcoming trip to the US but refuses to cancel Wednesday’s hearing.

Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad told the court on Saturday night that US President Donald Trump has invited the prime minister to the White House, where they would discuss efforts to secure a hostage release agreement, the tariffs Trump imposed on Israeli goods and the current combat operations in Gaza.

Hadad told the court that the meeting with Trump will take place on Monday but that Netanyahu will meet with other administration officials — possibly Tuesday morning, and therefore requested that both the Monday and Wednesday hearings be canceled.

The court agrees to cancel Monday’s hearing, but says it sees no reason to cancel the session on Wednesday. It also orders Netanyahu to testify three times in the week beginning April 20 instead of twice to make up for the canceled hearing.

The State Attorney’s Office issues an angry letter to the court following the decision, accusing Hadad of lying over the arrangements of the visit.

The State Attorney’s Office says that Hadad had told it that Netanyahu would only be able to return from the US on Wednesday and therefore would not be able to testify in either hearing.

The office states, however, that after it sent a response to Netanyahu’s request, Hadad told the court that the premier would have his last meeting at the latest on Tuesday morning, something it omitted to tell the prosecutors.

“The behavior of the attorney for defendant number one is unacceptable,” the State Attorney’s Office says, requesting that it be able to file its responses to future such requests directly to the court.